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Paranormal Parentage
Plot End tag Troy and Abed are playing around with the revolving bookcase secret entrance much to Pierce's annoyance. Recurring themes Continuity *'Previously': **Annie mentions the reason why Pierce wasn't invited to Vicki's Halloween party; earlier he taunted her so much she put a pencil through his face in the Season Two episode "Intro to Political Science". **Troy mentions that Jeff killed Pierce's father Cornelius Hawthorne in the Season Three episode "Advanced Gay". **Annie recaps the events in the Season Three episode "Digital Estate Planning" and recounts how Pierce lost his inheritance to his illegitimate half brother Gilbert Lawson while playing a video game. **Troy mentions having lived at the mansion which he did in Season Two. **The 'Special Gym' that Troy and Shirley find is mentioned in the Season Two episode "Competitive Wine Tasting". **A painting of Cornelius similar to Pierce's from Advanced Gay is shown hanging in the Hawthorne Mansion. The word "LIAR" is sprayed over it. *'Replay': **The Paper fortune teller sequence in the opening credits is the same one used in the Season Two episode "Epidemiology" with the new addition of Jim Rash's credit which features a man in an electric chair. **When Annie recaps Pierce's familial history and when she realizes how ridiculous it sounds she says: ''"I guess I never said it out loud". This is exactly what Jeff had said in the Season Three episode "Remedial Chaos Theory" after reading aloud the ridiculous name Abed gave for a fake Billiards club he was supposedly invited to. **Pierce says: "Ghosts can't go through doors, stupid! They're not fire!" which is a reworking of a similar quote from Ben Chang in the Season Three episode "First Chang Dynasty": "Fire can't go through doors stupid! They're not ghosts!". *'Catchphrase': Shirley says "That's nice!" after hearing that Pierce has decided to not go to the Halloween party and instead wants to stay at the mansion with Gilbert. *'School supplies:' **Jeff's cell phone makes an appearance when inside Pierce's bedroom he checks his messages instead of looking for the panic room code (which is 1989, the same year the panic room was installed). **The Norwegian troll doll, revealed to be named "Torg", is referenced when Abed sees an empty spot where it used to reside next to other troll dolls including one that looks exactly like it named "Grot". **The boxing gloves Jeff had as part of his costume turns out to be gloves used by his father William Winger. *'School song': "Daybreak" is heard in the episode, it's Troy's ring tone. *'Familiar faces': Gilbert Lawson makes a surprise return at the end of the episode. In one scene, a small portrait of Gilbert seems to have been taped to a family portrait of the Hawthornes, possibly added by Pierce after he realized Gilbert was his half-brother. Running gags *'Awww!': **Troy and Britta coo when Shirley mentions that her family is going with a Star Wars theme for their costumes this year: Her husband Andre is going as Han Solo, Elijah and Jordan are going as Stormtroopers and baby Ben is going as an Ewok. Abed does a courtesy "Aww!" and mentions that Shirley doesn't have enough children. **The group, sans Jeff, coo when Pierce apologizes to them for being such a burden. **The study group coos a third time when Pierce offers Gilbert to be his roommate and they both hug each other. *'Like an evil genie': The Dean enters the room and freaks Jeff out with his costume right after Jeff tells the group they shouldn't let a "lonely ridiculous person" derail their plans. *'My other half': After Britta mentions that matching Halloween costumes are worn by couples, Jeff warns her about "her boyfriend's boyfriend", since Troy and Abed's costumes are much more matching than those of Troy and Britta... *'Man crush': ... and later bails when he sees Dean Pelton wear a costume that complements his own. *'Nice outfit': Jeff is dressed as a boxer, Britta is dressed as a ham referencing (by chance) the character of "Scout" from the movie "To Kill A Mockingbird", Troy and Abed are dressed as Calvin and Hobbes, Shirley is dressed like Princess Leia and Annie is dressed as "Samara" from the horror movie "The Ring". Dean Pelton shows up dressed in the outfit that Jeff had intended Annie to wear, that of a boxing ring girl. *'Rhyme time': Troy tells Pierce "No sweat, Boba Fett!" Pop culture references *'Shout out': **Jeff mentions David Lee Roth. **The room Jeff ends up alone in that features a bar is a reproduction of the country club/snob "bar room" from "Caddyshack", starring Chevy Chase. *'TV Guide': "Cougar Town" is mentioned by Abed, Jeff mentions "Miami Vice". Jeff mentions the Hannah Barbera cartoon "Scooby-Doo". *'Well read': Jeff mentions "Peter Pan" when describing how Pierce has never allowed himself to grow up. Meta references *'Everyone's a critic': **Abed states, " I remember when this show used to be about community college," after watching Britta and Jeff argue on the monitor in the surveillance room. **Annie says she hates referential humor. In various interviews such as this one, and on DVD commentaries with creator Dan Harmon it's mentioned that actor Chevy Chase has been very critical of "Community"'s type of referential humor stating it's not his type of comedy. *'Résumé': Abed notices that the panic room was installed the same date in 1989 as the release of "Do the Right Thing." Giancarlo Esposito, the actor who plays Gilbert Lawson, had the break-out role of Buggin' Out in "Do the Right Thing". Reception Critical reaction Ratings "Paranormal Parentage" drew 2.76 million viewers, earning a 1.2 rating/4 share among adults 18-49, down 33% from "History 101" on February 7, 2013 . Initial reports placed the rating at 1.1 , leading Andy Bobrow to post a pair of self-deprecating Tweets: On Twitter, there were two known Community-related trending topics during the initial broadcast: #HappyValoween and #GhostDad. Production Quotes Category:Community Episodes Category:Season 4 Episodes